During the summer of 1963 I was on holiday at Croyde Bay with my parents. As a keen spotter I persuaded my parents to drop me off for the day at Chivenor, and they went on to Exeter. They were most concerned leaving me at the bottom of this dead end lane by the perimeter fencing with my telescope, just by the SAR helicopter hanger, next to a pig farm. Anybody remember this location.
It was a lovely day, the sun was shining and I was in my element. It was a good spot for the approach to runway 28, the runway in use.
All the based aircraft of that time could clearly be seen on approach and landing. The Chipmunks on circuits, Hunters and SAR Whirlwinds.
Two unusual visitors that day was a Piper Tri pacer G-ARDS, which is still around today based in N I, and a Vulcan in anti flash white.
Quite a contrast of types.
What possibly would the Vulcan be doing visiting at this time, any ideas, and was the Miles Aerovan still in existence at this time on the airfield.
I wasn’t aware of it existence at the time and just wondered if the blister hanger I believe it was in was anywhere near to were I was located.
By: Arabella-Cox - 3rd January 2018 at 19:49
Another RAF Chivenor annual camp cadet here!
I was fortunate to be there on April 1st 1968 – a fairly memorable day – aerobatics in a Chipmunk over the Severn mud flats at 7 a.m. and a 36 Hunter stream take-off and flypast later on.
Lots of (under-age) cider drinking too!
By: Consul - 3rd January 2018 at 19:03
It is probable that the Aerovan involved was OO-ERY ex G-AJOG
Aerovan Mk.4 OO-ERY had been owned by Importation-Exportation-Transformation-Compensation SA (Imextraco) of Grimbergen until sold to Mrs O J Marmol in 1955, it was then resold on 16 Sep 55 to Maurice Looker / Devonair Ltd. and ferried from Southend to Chivenor. It seems the purchase wasn’t completed due to contractual issues. The registration was cancelled in Feb 1960. (I assume it would have been restored to its original U.K. identity of G-AJOG if the the sale had been completed.) The aircraft was eventually scrapped on the old civil side of Chivenor airfield (to the east edge of the military airfield) known again then by its pre-war civil airfield name as Wrafton Gate. The Aerovan sadly was burnt there on 5 Nov 1963.
So it seems it was hidden from view somewhere at the time of your visit. The above details were gleaned from the superb “Miles Aircraft – The Post-War Years” by Peter Amos, published by Air-Britain.
By: AlanR - 2nd January 2018 at 22:47
I spent a week there with the ATC in 1966. Had a nice flight around the coast in a Chipmunk.
There wasn’t a cloud in the sky all week, lovely location. Arrivived there by train at Wrafton station.
By: ianwoodward9 - 2nd January 2018 at 18:59
This is about Chivenor but two years earlier. I have a postcard sent to me by a school chum who had been taken to Ilfracombe for a holiday. The picture on the front of the postcard shows an RAF Pembroke (XL929), which is probably the reason that the postcard never got discarded. After briefly mentioning what he’d seen at Thruxton, Boscombe Down and Yeovilton on the way down, my school friend wrote:
At Chivenor, I have seen XJ726 Whirlwind, WL360 Meteor T.7, VZ657 Meteor T.T.8, Chipmunks WP872, WK576, WP976, WK590, Hunter F.6s XE561, XF443, XE644, XE235, XF387, XG198, Hunter T.7s XL569, XL579, XL572 and XL583.
The postmark is 18 August 1961.
By: ThreeM - 31st December 2017 at 16:13
I certainly have memories of the SAR hangar there albeit a few years later.
Chivenor was the location for an ATC annual camp in the summer of 1968, me and a fellow cadet had a trip around the local coastline in Whirlwind XP347. There are many sand dunes around Croyde Bay and the pilot appeared to delight in hovering over couples who were otherwise engaged!
Sadly, during this week a visiting Sea Vixen FAW2 carrying out continuation training crashed on final approach just short of the runway, killing both crew members. At the time our squad was due to visit the control tower, we were all lined up outside so were witness to the event.
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December 31, 2017 at 3:32 pm